FEATURE
Left: Some of John Jorgenson’s guitars—including a Fender Tele, a G&L ASAT, an Ovation uke, and his signature Fender Strat—with parts removed and bagged for safekeeping.
Photo by Jim McGuire Right: A drawer full of waterlogged pedals—including models from Carl Martin, Marshall, Danelectro, and Boss. Photo by Mark Montgomery
production company. It worked because it is
incredibly convenient to the freeway. It’s also
on a floodplain.
George Gruhn has been outspoken in his
opinion that Soundcheck was the right busi-
ness in the wrong spot. “There is a reason
[that land] was never developed for housing.
It floods! I think it was poor judgment on a
lot of people’s parts.”
In his defense, owner Ben Jumper can point
to the fact that even though the ground
around Soundcheck has seen a few inches of
water in decades past, his buildings’ floors
are four to five feet above the ground, and
this was at least a 100-year flood. “I feel I’ve
done the best I could to protect everything in
Soundcheck,” he says. “You cannot anticipate
an event of epic proportion. My father—my
grandfather—never saw anything like this in
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